It’s The Land, Katie Scarlett

“… land is the only thing in the world worth workin’ for, worth fightin’ for, worth dyin’ for, because it’s the only thing that lasts.”---Gerald O’Hara in Gone With the Wind

Having lived and worked in Atlanta, Georgia for more than 15 years, it is expected that I would know the story Gone With the Wind very well.  Recently the quote from Gerald O’Hara came into my mind as I was thinking about the Sherburne County century Farm Program

The land, and ownership of the land, is so important.  I have written in the past about the variety of crops grown on the farms of Sherburne County.  Living on the land and growing the corn, the soybeans, the potatoes and all of the other crops that are raised in this area is truly a mind boggling concept.

To even further confound the mind, think about the farm families that have lived on the same piece of land, and worked the land for more than one hundred years.  That is even more astounding!

We don’t do enough to acknowledge the farmers of the United States, all of the hard work they do and their sacrifices to the land.  It is not just their hard work that makes the farming industry so important here.  Their lives and farms have helped mold the personality and character of the county.  The history of the county is reflected in every farm and farm worker in Sherburne County.  We need to acknowledge that.

How different the county would be if the strawberry crops had not been raised around the area.  What would replace the Christmas Tree farms?  Remove the potato farms and how does this effect the county?  How would any of these change effect the character of  the county?

As Gerald O’Hara said, “land …it’s the only thing that lasts.”